I stare at the space for several seconds, but nothing happens. No movement or wisp of current in the fog. Am I imagining it?
“Gonna freeze my nuts off out here for you,” Evan says, rubbing his hands together for warmth. He pauses when he sees me. “You okay?”
I scan the trees again, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just the lighting? It is nearly twilight after all. The forest light is always weird this time of night.
“Jer?” Evan turns to see what I’m staring at. “Do you see something?”
The last thing I want to do is alarm anyone. “No, I… I don’t think so.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I must be tired.”
“Well, we can skip this, you know. You’ve been at it non-stop.”
“No, let’s go.”
We go through six rounds of timed sessions, but I knock less than a third of the targets over. My focus is on the trees.
After realigning the cans for another round, Evan stalks over to me. “Seriously, what’s up?”
That’s when I catch the movement again, about fifty feet into the trees and a few dozen yards from where it was before. Getting closer.
Without thinking, I ignite a ball and throw it through the trees. To my horror, the light illuminates a face as it whizzes by.
Fuck.
If they were a shifter from a surrounding pack, they would have come in wolf form, and they wouldn’t have stayed in the shadows. Which means whoever this is, they aren’t our ally.
The need to protect Evan overrides anything else. I step in front of him, a snarl tearing from my lips as I cast another ball through the trees. It evaporates with a hiss as something extinguishes it.
“What are you—” Evan says.
I hold a hand up to silence him. Evan immediately tenses, reaching for the gun that is never missing from the back of his jeans. He takes aim in the direction of where I threw the fire.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Straight ahead,” I whisper. “Near the tall spruce.”
The figure straightens, pulling away from the tree just as a gust of wind blows in our direction. Dread fills me as I take in the scent.
Vampire.
Without taking my eyes off them, I turn to shout over my shoulder toward the house. “We have company!”
“Vamp?” Evan asks.
“Yes. Stay close.”
I hoped my warning to the pack would scare off the intruder. Make them realize we aren’t alone out here. Instead, it does just the opposite. The vampire begins walking toward us, completely unrushed.
If he was here to attack, wouldn’t he be running? Especially if he was here for me. Wouldn’t he come for me before my backup arrived?
Heavy footsteps trod behind us as four wolves approach. If the stranger is surprised to see them, they aren’t showing it.
Have they been here all day then? All week? Have they been watching us? Spying on us? And if so, why haven’t I noticed? Have I been so distracted with my training that I forgot to keep an eye on my surroundings? Damn it, Jericho. Do better.
The closer the vampire gets, the more I can make out some masculine features in their face, despite it being framed by waist-length silver hair. They don’t look a day over twenty-five, with a slender frame and elegant limbs. Even the way they walk is graceful and light.
